Kohlfurther Bridge
Coordinates: 51 ° 11 ′ 28 ″ N , 7 ° 6 ′ 37 ″ E
| Kohlfurther Bridge | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| use | Foot traffic | |
| Convicted | Kohlfurther Bridge | |
| Subjugated | Wupper | |
| place |
Wuppertal - Kohlfurth / Solingen - Kohlfurth |
|
| construction | Steel bridge | |
| overall length | 34.7 m | |
| width | 8.0 m | |
| start of building | 1893 | |
| opening | June 28, 1894 | |
| location | ||
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| Above sea level | 120 m above sea level NHN | |
The Kohlfurther Bridge (often also written as Kohlfurter Brücke ) is a steel truss bridge over the Wupper in the Wuppertal district of Cronenberg on the city limits of Solingen in the Kohlfurtherbrücke district . Until the shutdown of tram operations in 1969, it served the tram from Elberfeld to Solingen. The bridge is also the name of a street.
On April 13, 2006 it was entered in the list of monuments of the city of Wuppertal and on May 3, 2006 in the city of Solingen. The bridge has been in operation again since May 8, 2010 after extensive restoration.
architecture
The semi-parabolic bridge made of mild steel consists of riveted connections and spans the river bed in a slightly inclined position. The two parallel lattice girders are divided by eleven vertical posts and rest on supports made of natural stone . The floor of the bridge, in which the former tram tracks lie, is now paved over. The three inner fields of the lattice girders are reinforced by cross-shaped struts, the others by simple struts between the upper and lower chords. In the course of the expansion to the tram connection, the upper chords were additionally reinforced with cross arches to stabilize the construction.
history
Long before the existing bridge was built, there was a wooden bridge at this point, which was first mentioned in a document in 1363. In 1714 this was replaced by a stone arch bridge and was the only bridge in this region that allowed the dry crossing of the river on the way from Solingen and to Cronenberg. The pillar foundations can still be seen today at low tide. The massive and stable stone bridge was only built with one lane.
It was replaced in 1893 by the existing steel bridge, built by the company Morlan & Wilms from Neumühl , and opened to public transport on June 28, 1894.
In 1913/14 a conversion took place for the additional use for the tram operation of the Barmer Bergbahn , which then closed a connection between Cronenberg and Solingen and thus represented the largest expansion of the tram in the region. Line 5 ran from Elberfeld to Solingen until May 3, 1969 . In the year of the shutdown, the Bergisches Straßenbahnmuseum association was also founded .
Since the 1970s, the bridge owned by Landesbetrieb Straßenbau NRW (LBS) has only been used for pedestrian and bicycle traffic, but it is still considered a building on Landesstraße 427 . The city of Wuppertal has had a maintenance obligation since 1976 and a road safety obligation since 1996 - but the city has only inadequately met these obligations.
On March 17, 2005 it was completely closed to traffic without prior notice due to the risk of collapse, so that both districts were separated from each other. But the use of the bridge was already restricted in advance. So it could only be used by cyclists and pedestrians.
Thereupon the citizens' initiative Kohlfurther Brücke was formed , which fought for the preservation and the complete renovation. At that time, an amount of 1.6 million euros was estimated for a renovation, so the LBS intended to demolish the bridge and build a wooden bridge . After a campaign of signatures by the citizens' initiative and under pressure from numerous local politicians, the bridge was initially temporarily repaired and opened to pedestrian traffic again at Pentecost 2005 for the tram festival of the museum, but only over a width of 2.5 meters.
In mid-2006 it was decided to have the bridge renovated in spring 2007. The costs have now been put at 785,000 euros, some of which should be borne by the LBS, the state and the German Monument Protection Foundation. The two cities should bear a small part of around ten percent.
After various delays, the renovation work began at the end of November 2008. The bridge was completely dismantled in January 2009 and then rebuilt. On September 10th, 2009, the renovated half-timbered side parts with a protective coating were installed. They should give the new bridge its historical appearance.
The restored Kohlfurther bridge was reopened on May 8, 2010, including new lighting.
Web links
- Entry in the Wuppertal monument list
- http://www.tramtracks.de/wuppertal_kohlfurther_bruecke.htm
- Dispute after bridging was settled Westdeutsche Zeitung of October 2, 2009
Individual evidence
- ↑ Explanatory report ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. State Office for Roads NRW from September 12, 2005
- ↑ Bridging Day: Work in the Kohlfurth starts Westdeutsche Zeitung (online) from November 20, 2008
- ↑ Construction site photos. (No longer available online.) In: Bürgerinitiative Kohlfurther Brücke. Archived from the original on January 24, 2017 ; accessed on May 18, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
